


EXIT

by mermaidhanji



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blackwatch, Blackwatch Era, Goodbyes, M/M, also they're both trans but it doesn't come up, know this tho. know that they are trans. it's good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 00:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12157914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaidhanji/pseuds/mermaidhanji
Summary: McCree intended to leave in the middle of the night without a goodbye to anyone.But his plans never worked out, did they?





	EXIT

**Author's Note:**

> l'shanah tovah have a heartbreaking mcgenji i wrote in 3 hours today  
> someone please motivate me to finish my endless wip fics i beg??? at least i finished this tho. here. tak it

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

The voice made McCree stiffen. He hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings—not a smart move, not at all. Not while he was doing this. He could just picture the way Gabriel or Ana would gently chastise him, like in training, and it hurt like a wound.

Though to be fair to himself, how could he concentrate when his head was a mess? Overwatch was splintering, and his family was falling to ruin before his eyes... again.

"Yeah," McCree replied quietly, still keeping his back to the voice in the shadows.

He was leaving. Like a fucking coward. He was numb and broken, and he didn't know the extent of what the human heart could bear. He wouldn't be here long enough to find out.

He turned slowly, because he knew who was there, and McCree wasn't sure he was prepared to face him. Genji stood there in the dark. Red pinpricks of cybernetic light cast a dim, eerie glow between them, like the burning bright **EXIT** at the end of the hall.

McCree fidgeted with the strap of his small duffel bag. He was running without a goodbye to anyone—with one exception, now. Genji didn't appear to be angry; his eyes, uncovered by his faceplate, almost seemed... lost. McCree felt a prick in his eyes at that, and he clenched his teeth. This was his own decision; he was bringing this exile upon himself. He would not cry about it.

Genji took a hesitant step forward, then another. "I probably shouldn't make this any harder for you," he murmured. McCree could tell when Genji was trying to keep his voice even and his hands at his sides. It killed him to see Genji hold himself back.

So, slowly, McCree held out his hand. Genji stared for a moment, then took his hand. Their fingers twined together like they belonged there, palm to palm, and this time McCree stepped forward. He rubbed his thumb over Genji's knuckle, like he always did. The way Genji ducked his head and trembled made McCree's heart cry out.

"Genji," he began, somehow whispering even with the cacophony inside him, "I'm sorry—"

"It's fine," Genji insisted. He squeezed McCree's hand with a gentleness few in Blackwatch knew from him. "You don't have to be sorry."

"But..." McCree trailed off. He wasn't sure there _were_ words for this.

"I understand." Genji looked up then, and there was such sadness in his eyes. _Don't cry. Don't cry. Please don't cry._ McCree wasn't sure if he was begging himself or the man before him. "Ana is gone, Gabriel and Jack are at each other's throats. Overwatch will fall, and it will be soon." He said it with such haunting certainty, but that was why McCree was leaving, wasn't it? Because he was certain of the destruction to come. "It's better if you get out while you can." He could hear a wistful, bitter smile in Genji's voice. "I only wish I could go with you."

"Why don't you?" McCree leaned forward with a stronger grip on Genji's hand. For the first time in a long time, something like hope fluttered within him. "If you grab what you need, we could leave. Right now."

Genji just sighed. "You know I can't." His tone seemed to twist in distaste. "Were I to disappear now, it would cause an even greater uproar than you, at least with the puppet masters of this place. I was a costly investment," he nearly spat the words, "and the UN would likely stop at nothing to drag me back. I would only put the both of us in even greater danger." He leaned his head on McCree's shoulder, and McCree could feel the tension wrought in Genji. "I am stuck here."

McCree murmured Genji's name, running fingers through his hair. There was nothing much to say, not really. They simply stood together in the gloom. Genji slid a hand around McCree's waist, bunching his shirt in a strong grip, and kept his face pressed to McCree's shoulder. McCree ever so softly kissed the crown of Genji's head—

And that broke the dam. Genji's hands flew up to the back of his head in an instant, popping the seals on his faceplate and catching it in one hand, and with the other, he dragged McCree into a desperate kiss. McCree kissed him back hard, wrapping his arms around Genji's waist and pressing their fronts together, like they couldn't get close enough. One of Genji's hands remained cradling McCree's head, the other arm slung around the back of McCree's neck. Their noses bumped together and teeth clacked; neither cared. In that moment, McCree's world was Genji. His scent, like the air after lightning; the passionate press of his kiss and the familiar snag in his top lip; his strength, his softness, the heartbeat McCree could feel through their touching chests.

His love. God, his beautiful, beautiful love.

They finally broke apart with quiet gasps, and McCree truly was crying now, damn him. Genji smiled sadly, his lip trembling too. He brushed a tear away with his thumb, and it took all of McCree's will not to crumple then and there.

"I—" McCree tried to say, but the words were caught in his throat. This may be their last chance to voice what they already knew. He thought back to every single moment that passed them by with regret like shards of glass; he could have said it years ago. He could be saying it now. He could stay here and kiss Genji and never let him go.

But McCree knew, they both knew, that what was known couldn't have been said. Not while they lived staring death in the face.

And McCree knew he couldn't stay.

Genji simply pressed their foreheads together and touched his nose to McCree's. Brown eyes spoke the years of _I love you_ 's that lips never could, and it tore McCree apart. It would never be enough. There would never be enough gazes or kisses or touches or words that could convey just how much he loved Genji and Genji loved him. But this would have to do.

Genji, careful and achingly tender, pressed his lips to McCree's one last time. Genji stroked his cheek, lashes brushed McCree's skin in a delicate butterfly kiss, and McCree had to choke back a sob. It was amazing, he thought to himself, how the softest touch he'd ever known could rip through him worse than a bullet.

They parted with hardly a sound, and McCree reached up to wrap his hand around Genji's once more. Genji's eyes glistened wetly in the faint red light—and this, McCree thought, was the extent of what the human heart could bear.

"Please go," Genji whispered brokenly. McCree, not trusting himself to speak, only nodded slightly.

He stepped back, while Genji stayed rooted in place. McCree shivered at the loss of Genji's warmth. They remained linked only by their joined hands and locked, tearful eyes. Another step—still they held on by their fingertips. McCree took one final look at the man he loved so much: clenching his faceplate in an iron grip, fighting back tears, looking so painfully alone in the dark.

McCree pressed his lips together and remained still, though every cell in his body screamed for Genji. He knew—one more word, one more kiss or touch, and he would never leave Genji again.

McCree slipped away as though slipping underwater. And, his head murky and heart drowning, he turned on his heel and ran for the glowing red **EXIT**.


End file.
